Wii’s pricetag…

I don’t post a lot of the news that other sites pick up before me (I try not to blog from work too much) but when I read the announcement of Nintendo’s pricing for the Wii, I couldn’t stop smiling. I had to post something! At less than 250 bucks, Nintendo hit one out of the park. That price is the proverbial sweet spot for gamers.

I did read a rumor earlier this week, though, that Nintendo was ready to announce a $200 price point, but after Sony announced their ridiculously overpriced PS3, Nintendo held off and went with the $250 price. That’s just a rumor, but it makes sense, from a business point of view. Fricken Sony!

The only thing I’m worried about now is if the Big N can meet the demand. They say the want to sell six million units by next March, but if they had that many ready by Christmas, they would sell every single one of them. And then half of them would be on eBay the next day. I also worry about price gougers retailers bundling the Wii with all manner of unnecessary crap. It’s already being done with the DS Lite, and I after what we witnessed with the 360, I see no reason why it won’t happen again. All of this adds up to some serious frustration, come launch-day. That bothers me, because I refuse to “pre-order” and I’d rather not wait out in the cold at 11:30 at night outside of Best Buy to get my Wii.

I just want to get my Wii on, is that so wrong?

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Two fifty? By November, the Xbox 360 will have been out a year. I predict the Xbox will drop it’s price to $249 and $349 respectively. Remember, the Wii isn’t new technology: no HD and the multi-cored, multi node cpu configuration which goes with it. Given that, Xboxes and PS2 with simular hardware are sub 100 dollars new, Nintendo will probably compensate by plugging a $199 price tag or maybe (dream dream) even less. Nintendo has stated they are the low cost fun alternative to the mega systems. And to be the low cost leader, you need to have the lowest cost.

As for Sony’s $499, $599 pricetags, wow. How many kids have got $680 lying around for the console, one $50 game, and tax? How many parent have $680 sitting around to buy a game console? Boy, they better have a killer app waiting in the wings. Ooo. Maybe Halo 3 is a PS3 exclusive…

Nintendo has consistently offered their consoles at $200 (correct me if I’m wrong). I would hate to see them break that simply b/c the PS3’s price is so high. I’m all for Nintendo making a profit, but if what Bryan says turns out to be true (concerning the 360’s price drop), then the Wii won’t seem like such a great deal.

At a $250 price point, I’d like to see a pair of Wiimotes, or a Wiimote and nunchuck. I have no confidence in a game being bundled in there.

At $200 or $250, I will be buying it, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

About bundles: In my experience, I have rarely dealt with the “forced bundle” thing. That bundle garbage usually occurs online only. On each of their respective launch days, I bought a DC, GBA, GCN, GBA SP, DS, GBm, and 360 without being forced to buy anything extra. Even my short-lived PSP (purchased a week after launch) did not require anything extra. I didn’t even buy a game with it. The Xbox, purchased a month after launch, was the only console that I’ve ever been forced to buy something else with it in-store.

I keep hearing people complain that $250 is too high, and yet I have little doubt it will sell.

I’m still just stunned that the widespread speculation is that the Wii will be $50 cheaper than a castrated X360 and people are still complaining the price is too high. I especially like the one about how Nintendo has “never released a console for more than $200”. Inflation anyone?

That’s ok though, because I’m sure Nintendo is going to move plenty of units. I think after the boondoggle that was the Gamecube, they have a winner at last. Though I’m not making any predictions just yet….

Like many parents of pre-teen children, the Wii is the only option of the 3 new consoles. The cost doesn’t matter to my kids, the games do. We are a Nintendo house by their choosing – GBA, DS, ‘Cube and N64 all see heavy usage. They care not for an Xbox or PS3 and the PS2 I bought for myself gets used maybe once every couple of months. I’m just glad the new Nintendo will be priced in a range I can justify spending.

I don’t care about the price of a system. I’m going to where the games I like are. If the system that I want is too much then I’ll just wait for the price to come down. Yes, it may take awhile, but last I looked the current gen. isn’t dead yet.

My reaction exactly . pricing of Wii was a inspiration .Along with the innovative remsote thingy this will help them win back market share temporarily at least .
Don Lapre is a Superstarwebmaster@j-ams.orghttp://www.j-ams.org

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[…] Wii s pricetag I don t post a lot of the news that other sites pick up before me (I try not to blog from work too much ) but when I read the announcement of Nintendo s pricing for the Wii, I couldn t stop smiling. At less than 250 bucks, Nintendo hit … […]